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Dental Implant History

Dental Implant FAQs

You may be surprised that Dental implants have a history! It is not a new process. Evidence has shown, the ancient Mayans performed dental implants more than 1300 hundred years ago. Ancient Mayans used sea shells to replace missing teeth restoring beautiful smiles in women. Archaeological evidence also has discovered ancient Egyptians having used sea shells and ivory to replace teeth.

Modern dental implants began in 1952 with a chance discovery by Dr. Per-Ingvar Brånemark, a Swedish professor. Branemark screwed a titanium cylinder into a thigh bone as part of an animal study. The theory at the time suggested that the result of this type of fusion would result in long-term soft tissue inflammation. However, Branemark noticed something remarkable, that the bone had actually fused to the titanium cylinder without the inflammation previously thought to occur. He called the titanium to bone fusion process osseointegration, and Professor Branemark quickly realized the broad implications of his discovery and began focusing on how it could help people. Among other surgical procedures, he thought titanium might be able to be used in the mouth. In 1965 the first dental implant patient was treated with immediate success.

In their early uses, five to six implants were placed in the anterior portion of the lower jaw where the bone is usually the densest. This arrangement was called a hybrid. The implants were fixed together with a titanium bar with teeth attached. Implants were clustered together in the front of the lower jaw in order to avoid the nerve that runs through the posterior portion of the jaw.

To get teeth in the molar area it was necessary to cantilever or hang teeth off the back of the bridge. Sometimes this caused excessive forces on the appliance and fractures occurred in the superstructure.

All-On-4 Dental Implants

In 1989 Dr. Paulo Maulo determined that if the posterior implants on either side could be successfully tipped backward up to 30 degrees, this would reduce the cantilever effect. This is now considered to be the "All-On-4" procedure.

This method of multiple dental implant placement has continued to be a reliable and effective resource for new smiles through a quarter of a century. The success rate for prostheses built upon four implants in each arch is the same as the success rate for cases requiring more anchorage.